As Fighting Escalates in Yemen’s Hodeidah, Risk of Famine Grows

Several months into the invasion of the Yemeni aid port of Hodeidah, the forces loyal to the United Arab Emirates have been escalating dramatically, looking to gain ground faster in an effort to seize the nation’s largest aid port.

Hodeidah is estimated to import food aid for about 70% of Yemen, and fighting has at this point effectively cut off traffic to an from the city. Promises by the Saudis for a humanitarian corridor haven’t been followed through on so far, and that means no one is getting food.

This has happened before in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, with Saudi naval blockades regularly cutting the nation off from food imports for weeks at a time. Fighting could drag on much longer, however, and that could mean mass starvation, particularly in northern Yemen.

A mostly desert country, Yemen imports 90% of its food even in peacetime, and during the war that need for food has increased further, with storehouses emptying quickly. Much of Yemen is in a state of constant malnutrition now, and further cuts could easily put millions of lives at risk.